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Submitted by
Kobayashi
a Weekend Warrior
from Moscow, RussiaDate Reviewed: May 18, 2008
Strengths: Look good, because it's black)Weaknesses: Bearing are weak.Bottom Line: Really dissapointed with this product. This BB came with my Trance X, and been installed by manufacturer. I had 150 miles on it, nothing extraordinary, just 1 month of XC riding and they are dead. I think riders should avoid this BB at all cost. I plannin to replace it with Shimano.
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Similar Products Used: Shimano XT 760.
Bike Setup: Giant Trance X1, almost stock
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Eric Foltz
a Cross Country Rider
from Lake Forest, CA, USADate Reviewed: April 16, 2008
Strengths: Light weightWeaknesses: DurabilityBottom Line: Quite possibly the worst MTB product I have seen in 20 years of riding.
Initially took about 300 miles of riding for the bearings to loosen up but then the BB failed completely with less than 700 miles. Seals on both sides failed letting in water and debris. Non-drive side bearings developed play.
I replaced with a Hope BB and cranks spin smoother than they ever did with the Race Face BB.
I wouldn't recommend this BB to anyone. Spend a little more and get something that is going to last.
Favorite Trail: Gooseberry Mesa
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Purchased At: Jenson
Similar Products Used: Grafton Ti, Shimano XTR, Hope
Bike Setup: BMC Trailfox 02, Pike, Race Face Deus XC, Hope BB, X9 Twist/RD, XT FD
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Uncle_Mike
a Cross Country Rider
from Ottawa, CanadaDate Reviewed: September 24, 2007
Strengths: Looks good, and comparitively inexpensiveWeaknesses: Horrible durabilityBottom Line: Last year I went through 3 of these, including one that lasted exactly one week (Transrockies). This year I installed one for a friend and it also lasted one week (BC bike race). They were actually seized when removed from the bike box. It must be in the design as Shimano has also let me down. I have a square taper XT on my Tracer that has lasted for 4 years, but have no expectations that the external ones will make it through more than a season.
Always loved RF, but some of there products over the last few years have really disappointed. It is not an install issue and I've drilled frames to ensure drainage.
Favorite Trail: pwrline
Duration Product Used: 2 Years
Similar Products Used: Shimano XT External (not good either), Shimano sq taper and Octalink, etc.
Bike Setup: High end XC and Trailbikes with X-Type bb's
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Eric
a Cross Country Rider
from Dayton, OhioDate Reviewed: June 27, 2007
Strengths: Lightweight, easy assembly/disassemblyWeaknesses: Seal design, bearing qualityBottom Line: This review is for the bottom bracket. Price shown was for bottom bracket and crankset. Crankset is great! Bottom bracket - not so much. Bearings were stiff from the start. Non-drive side failed after less than 1 year - seal failed and allowed water & mud in. Replaced with rebuild kit with ceramic bearing my LBS suggested. Seal design totally different with rebuild kit - hopeful that durability will be improved. Overall concept seems good, RaceFace just got cheap with the bearing and seal designs. If you're OK with a BB that has disposable bearings, go ahead & buy it. Once they fail, bite the bullet and go ahead and buy some quality bearings to replace them.
Favorite Trail: Caesar's Creek
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Price Paid:
$235.00
Purchased At: BeyondBikes
Similar Products Used: Shimano Cartidge
Bike Setup: Trek STP300, Cane Creek Wheels, SID Race fork
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
stefano BOR
a Weekend Warrior
from ITALYDate Reviewed: February 20, 2007
Strengths: NONEWeaknesses: The terrible bottom bracketBottom Line: Terrible, failed after 3 months, the nondrive side bearig whas blocked, contaminated by water, non warranty fron italian distributor, they told that a high pressure water was used, false,
I have other bikes with shimano hollowtec 2 bb and i never had any issue. Stay away from the RACE FACE X RType BB!!!!
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Purchased At: my bike shop
Similar Products Used: shimano hollowtec 2
Bike Setup: standard Kona Coilair
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Tony Cavill
a Weekend Warrior
from Welington, New ZealandDate Reviewed: February 19, 2007
Strengths: Easy to get crank on and off.Weaknesses: Lasts about 3 months maximum before bearings (normally drive side) allow water ingress and fail.
This is generally noticed by stiffness in the crank by which time it is waayyy tooo late. Almost impossible to remove bearing to replace. What may help is to remove the crank and cup regularly and push grease into the area behind the bearing - but why should you have to do this.Bottom Line: Don't know how they have the nerve to put this product on the market.
Apparently the Shimano Hollowtech are compatible so will be looking to put this in next.
Favorite Trail: Skippers Canyon
Duration Product Used: 2 Years
Price Paid:
$60.00
Purchased At: Burkes
Similar Products Used: Shimano Deore
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
JAMES
a Cross Country Rider
from ENGLANDDate Reviewed: December 12, 2006
Strengths: NoneWeaknesses: Allows dirt and water into the bearings causing premature failure of the productBottom Line: 3 of these required in 1 years cycling. Need I say more.
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Purchased At: RUTLAND WATER
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Rob
a Cross Country Rider
from Boulder, CO, USADate Reviewed: September 28, 2006
Strengths: Not to expensiveWeaknesses: Noisy from the start, very low durabilityBottom Line: I decided to try a RaceFace bottom bracket after less than satisfactory results with the standard Shimano XT external bottom bracket (two toasted brackets in 8000 miles). The RaceFace bottom bracket managed to last all of 4000 miles. In addition, the bearings were noisy from the start - at least the Shimano BBs were quiet until they failed. My take on this product is that if someone offers it to you, turn and walk away - fast! Anyway, I am now going to have Phil Wood bearings installed in a Shimano shell and see how they work out. The Wood bearings are about 50% bigger than the Shimano or RaceFace bearings, so hopefully they will last longer. For an interesting discussion on bottom brackets, try the following link:
http://www.peterverdonedesigns.com/bikebottombrackets.htm
Duration Product Used: 6 months
Similar Products Used: Shimano XT
Bike Setup: Dean 29r, XT, White Bros. Fork
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Rob West
a Racer
from Plymouth, Mi. USADate Reviewed: September 20, 2006
Strengths: Crankset and rings are great. Stiff, shifts smooth after 2 yrs.Weaknesses: Bottom Bracket. Have replaced 2 so farBottom Line: I love Race Face cranks and have been using them for years. Only replaced the middle chainring on this set. The BB system is terrible however. I am on my third ones, and customers are having the same problem. They foul easily from the weather, and seize up. And this is in Mi. Race Face did replace one set for free. Good customer service, and gave me some extra seals so I can service them myself in the future. I have ordered the Phil Wood replacemnt tool and bearings to correct the problem long term. Still, I recommend the Deus X.
Favorite Trail: Poto
Duration Product Used: 2 Years
Price Paid:
$225.00
Purchased At: QBP
Bike Setup: 04 Yeti ASR Sram X0
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
ptc
a
from ScotlandDate Reviewed: August 27, 2006
Strengths: Does it's job.Weaknesses: No tolerance for shoddy fitting by your LBS.Bottom Line: I ride in constantly in mud, salt water sand, dirt, rain (It's Scotland, you get the picture). My first BB was wrecked after 9 months due to a cracked outer seal, which the bike shop had done when they swapped frames when I bought the bike, I should have noticed I know.
I swapped it over myself and continued on regardless. A couple of weeks ago I stripped it out and checked it over and there was no water/dirt ingress at all and the unit is looking good and running well.
This might be helped by the fact I used a good grease when I installed it, Motorex, which helps to keep the crap out of the delicate innards.
But I'm not wiping it completely clean to test the theory :o)
It's a good unit and easy to install. One thing though there seems to be two sets of spacers that come with the BB, an alloy set and a plastic set. Try to get the alloy set, it would be too easy to overtighten the plastic ones when installing the cups and wreck something.
Favorite Trail: The ones nobody else knows about :o)
Duration Product Used: 2 Years
Similar Products Used: Shimano, FSA.
Bike Setup: 5" F/S done up nice
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Terrell Thruston
a Weekend Warrior
from RosevilleDate Reviewed: August 25, 2006
Strengths: NoneWeaknesses: Poor design, poor spec bearingsBottom Line: This review is for the Race Face Evolve XC X type. I purchased my bike new 3 months ago and noticed my cranks had some resistance after 2 months. The bearings are already full of grime and need to me replaced. An absolutely lousy product. Now I've got to deal with the hassle of warranty issues. Ughh!
Favorite Trail: Foresthill Divide Loop
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Similar Products Used: Shimano
Bike Setup: 2005 Giant Reign
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
josh
a Weekend Warrior
from slc, utDate Reviewed: August 20, 2006
Strengths: Farily cheap but not if your'e buying 3 sets a year.Weaknesses: I've gone through three sets of these in less than two years. I can't believe Race Face put this out as it's best external bb. The design is laughable. It says on the bb not to disassemble these and it's because you will see how cheap these were made. The dust/grime/water seal it a joke. It's a 25-cent brittle plastic cover and that's it! Water has no problem getting past this thing. I’ve always been happy with Race Face products so I hope they are reading these poor reviews.Bottom Line: Oh Race Face, these are pathetic. I can't believe you put these out.
Duration Product Used: 2 Years
Price Paid:
$35.00
Purchased At: pricepoint
Similar Products Used: Everything under the big bright yellow sun
Bike Setup: Intense 5.5
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mike robinson
a Cross Country Rider
from Victoria, BC, CanadaDate Reviewed: July 24, 2006
Strengths: light weightWeaknesses: no durability, easy water contaminationBottom Line: This BB sucks. I have never had so many BB's fail me. In one year I have had 4 of these BB's replaced under warranty. Race face is good when it comes to warranty but some of these BB's have lasted only 4-6 weeks. It is a hassle always having to deal with this BB issue. I think I will put in an x type shimano xt BB next.
Favorite Trail: two sheiks
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Purchased At: came with my Dawg Delux
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Giancarlo Pelosi
a Weekend Warrior
from Miramar, FL, USADate Reviewed: July 13, 2006
Strengths: So far so good. No troubles. Purchased based on reputation alone.Weaknesses: None so far.Bottom Line: Great bang for your buck. Get it.
Favorite Trail: Markham Park
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Purchased At: Bell's Bikes
Similar Products Used: XTR BB, Truvativ and XT BB.
Bike Setup: 06 Giant Trance 1, 06 XTR Rear der, 06 XT front der, XT rotors, chain, and shifters. Race Face Dues XC bars, stem, seatbost and crankset (X-type BB). Chris King headset, Mavic Crossmax SL disc, WTB Rocket V Stealth saddle, Kenda Nevagal UST's, 06 FOX F100RL and 06 Float RP3.
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Chris
a Cross Country Rider
from wisconsinDate Reviewed: July 10, 2006
Strengths: Is there any?Weaknesses: Bearing life. Axel corrosion. Overall design of outboard bearings in general.Bottom Line: I ran ISIS bottom brackets for years. I figured I'd try some of these new "outboard bearings" and see if all the hype was real. Well let me tell you: they suck. The bearings are supposed to be preloaded from the side by the use of little rubber spacers: lame. With an ISIS drive, the bearing preload can't be screwed up; the axel is part of the system. Anyway, after less than one month of use, the cranks developed alot of play in them. I removed the whole setup only to find that the right side bearing was almost completely shot (grinding, shaking back and forth); the crank axel that contacts the bearings was all corroded and no longer round. Even if I get new bearings, the axel is shot, and the axel is part of the cranks. I'm going back to ISIS for sure. Just the idea of having the bearings outside the protection to the BB shell is not something I like.
Favorite Trail: singletrack
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Similar Products Used: Never tried outboard bearings before this. Ran ISIS for years.
Bike Setup: SS XtC
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